Only seven minutes later it was 2-0 when Xavi himself latched on to a pinpoint pass from Dani Alves, beating one defender before smashing the ball home.

Cesc Fabregas hit the post and then stabbed home Barca's third on the stroke of half-time as the Spanish giants, winners in 2009, threatened to run riot in front of a crowd of 68,000 in Yokohama.

The former Arsenal midfielder came within a whisker of another goal moments after the restart, forcing a magnificent save from Cabral.

Player of the tournament Messi made it 4-0 eight minutes from time, bursting past Cabral at breath-taking speed to slip the ball into the net and complete the rout.

Santos, who lifted their third Libertadores Cup in June almost 50 years after Pele led them to back-to-back titles in 1962 and 1963, had no answer to Barcelona's brilliance.

"It may have looked easy but it certainly wasn't," said Barca captain Carles Puyol after his side became the first to win the Club World Cup twice sine it became a seven-team Fifa competition.

"The early goals made it easier for us," added Puyol, who dedicated victory to Spain striker David Villa after he broke his leg in Barca's 4-0 semi-final win over Qatar's Al Sadd.

"We never doubted ourselves and kept their forwards under control. It was a complete performance."

The quality and speed of Barca's play was bewildering at times. "It's impossible to stop Barcelona," shrugged Brazil's teenage sensation Neymar.

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TAMPA, Florida: Tony Romo passed for three touchdowns and scored another as the Dallas Cowboys kept their NFC East title hopes on track with a 31-15 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the National Football League.

Quarterback Romo stoked the Cowboys (8-6) to a 28-0 half-time lead as they moved a half-game ahead of the New York Giants in the NFC East.

New York (7-6) can regain a share of the lead with a win over the Washington Redskins today.

"It was nice to go out there and play the way we did," Romo told reporters. "Offensively we did a really good job but boy our defence played outstanding ball."

Dallas can claim the NFC East title with wins over Philadelphia and the Giants in the next two weeks.

"It is going to be a good tough battle," Romo said of the January 1 return meeting with the Giants, who edged the Cowboys 37-34 last week. "But we are going to be ready for it."

Two consecutive defeats in which they blew fourth-quarter leads had dropped the Cowboys into a tie with the Giants, but they roared back behind their captain.

Romo hit Miles Austin and Dez Bryant with eight-yard scoring strikes in the first quarter and threw a nine-yard pass to Laurent Robinson for another score in the second.

He helped push the score to 28-0 with a one-yard sneak seconds before half-time.

"I was just throwing the ball, finding the guys open and the guys did the rest," Romo, who finished the game with 23 completions for 249 yards, said of the big first-half.

Tampa Bay (4-10), who lost for the eighth consecutive time, finally got on the board after a Romo fumble in the third quarter.

Defensive end Adrian Clayborn sacked Romo, forcing the fumble which linebacker Dekoda Watson scooped up and ran seven yards for a touchdown.

Climaxed

Dallas added a field goal before Josh Freeman led Tampa Bay on a 75-yard drive climaxed by his 13-yard pass to Dezmon Briscoe. Freeman's throw for the two-point conversion made it 31-15 to end the scoring.

The Buccanners' quarterback finished with 17 of 27 passes for 148 yards.

Dallas were playing without top running back DeMarco Murray, who is out for the year with broken ankle, but Felix Jones again filled the void, rushing for 108 yards on 22 carries after gaining 106 yards in the loss to New York.

"He did a great job," Romo said. "We are lucky to have some depth at the tailback position."

Striker Mohammed Najeed fired four times in the 25th, 68th, 82nd and 90th minutes, while Ahmed Al Khayyat (83rd) and second-half substitutes Thamer Shammos (80th), Mahmood Al Sharqawi (87th) were also on target in the deciding group clash.

The result saw Victorious win this four-team group with nine points from three successive victories. They will now play in the quarter-finals against the runners-up of Group 'B', which is yet to be decided.

Despite suffering their first defeat, Saqer Al Jazira finished second in the group and also qualified for the quarter-finals where they take on whoever wins Group 'B'.

Two matches were held on the concluding day of Group 'A', held at the Bahrain Football Association's grounds in Riffa.

Playing earlier yesterday in a no-bearing match, the Marines outplayed Neural Stars 3-0 for their maiden win in the group.

Raed Rashid gave the Marines a 39th-minute lead and Ali Al Abbad doubled his team's advantage in the 58th minute.

Substitute Abdulrahman Faraj then put the scores beyond reach from a penalty kick after Rashid was fouled inside the area by goalkeeper Yousif Sharida.

Clash

Meanwhile, Al Fakhar and Durrat Al Bahrain will be looking to finish on a high note tonight.

The concluding match of this four-team Group 'D', due to kick off at 7.30pm at Khalifa Sports City's Stadium in Isa Town, will see two undefeated teams who dominated their early matches and will decide the final group standings.

With both teams having already secured their places in the competition's quarter-finals, they hope to clinch full points today to top the group with a 100 per cent win record.

Al Fakhar, who reached the semi-finals last year before going down on penalties to Al Nawayef, are favourites to continue their winning run.

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DHAKA: Taufeeq Umar closed in on a second successive half-century to steady Pakistan on the second day of the second and final Test against Bangladesh in Dhaka yesterday.

The left-handed opener, who scored 61 in the opening Test in Chittagong, was unbeaten on 44 as Pakistan reached 87-1 in their first innings at stumps after bowling out Bangladesh for 338.

Azhar Ali was 26 not out when play was called off due to bad light.

Pakistan lost in-form Mohammad Hafeez before Umar and Azhar put on 64 runs for the unbroken second-wicket stand, with Umar hitting eight fours in his 79-ball knock so far.

Bangladesh paceman Nazmul Hossain, returning to the Test side after seven years, struck with his first delivery when he had Hafeez caught behind for only 14, a stark contrast to the opener's 143 in the last Test.

Bangladesh, resuming at 234-5, earlier lost well-set Shakib Al Hasan (144) and skipper Mushfiqur Rahim (40) off successive balls before being bowled out in the afternoon session.

The hosts were strongly placed at 305-5 before losing their last five wickets for 33, with Shakib's dismissal starting the slide.

Shakib was run out following a mix-up with his skipper as Umar hit the stumps at the non-striker's end from mid-wicket, while Rahim was caught down the leg-side by wicket-keeper Adnan Akmal off paceman Umar Gul.

Fast bowlers Gul and Aizaz Cheema each took three wickets, while off-spinner Saeed Ajmal finished with 2-64.

Former captain Shakib, 108 overnight, cracked 15 fours in a superb 242-ball knock for his highest score in any form of international cricket, while Rahim hit one six and six fours in his 102-ball innings.

Shahadat Hossain, dropped on five by Abdur Rehman at deep mid-wicket off Ajmal, remained unbeaten on 21 with the help of one six and two fours.

Pakistan went wicketless in the morning session despite taking the second new ball immediately it was available as Shakib and Rahim helped their team add 51 runs to their overnight total after a delayed start due to fog.

Rahim, five not out overnight, played some handsome shots in the morning as he slog-swept Ajmal over mid-wicket for the first six of the match and then cut left-arm spinner Rehman for a four in the next over.

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MADRID: Atletico Madrid experienced their first home league defeat of the season after going down 2-0 to 10-man Real Betis yesterday to increase the pressure on coach Gregorio Manzano.

Alex Pozuelo scored in the 54th minute and substitute Roque Santa Cruz added a second in stoppage time to give Betis a second straight victory and boost their own beleaguered coach, Pepe Mel. Pozuelo was sent off in the 72nd.

Atletico are without an away win in seven Spanish league matches but their strong home form had given Manzano some protection.

This latest defeat leaves the Atletico coach in an increasingly precarious position. Atletico has a Copa del Rey fixture against third-tier Albacete on Wednesday, aiming to overturn a shock 2-1 defeat in the away leg.

With the Christmas break approaching, anything but a win against Albacete looks likely to end Manzano's time at the club he took over for a second time in June.

At one point against Betis, home fans in the Vicente Calderon stadium chanted the name of Luis Aragones, the former European Championship-winning Spain coach, who is seen as a potential successor.

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LONDON: Manchester City were left two points in front of champions Manchester United at the top of the Premier League after a 1-0 win at home to Arsenal yesterday.

David Silva scored the only goal of a high-quality contest in the 53rd minute after Mario Balotelli cut in from the left and let fly with a powerful low shot that Arsenal keeper Wojciech Szczesny did well to save but could not hold.

Sergio Aguero followed up and, as the ball came loose on the right, Silva pounced to score from close range.

City, beaten by Chelsea last time out, missed several chances to double their lead and were almost made to pay when in-form Arsenal striker Robin van Persie shot weakly at England goalkeeper Joe Hart from eight yards. Then Argentina defender Pablo Zabaleta nearly made it 2-0 to the hosts when his shot beat Szczesny only to bounce off the keeper's right post.

Hart then preserved City's lead in the 90th minute when he tipped over a shot from Thomas Vermaelen that came through a crowd of players. In stoppage time, another Vermaelen strike curled just wide.

Defeat meant Arsenal, beaten for the first time in nine games, stayed fifth in the table, 12 points behind City.

"It was very important after Chelsea - we didn't deserve to lose that game," said City manager Roberto Mancini.

"It was a big test for our character and I think we showed we are a strong team...we know we shall fight with United and Tottenham and the other teams who are very strong."

Earlier yesterday, United returned to the summit for a couple of hours after a 2-0 win away to Queens Park Rangers.

Wayne Rooney needed fewer than 60 seconds to open the scoring at Loftus Road before Michael Carrick made the game safe for the visitors in the 56th minute.

United went ahead when England striker Rooney headed home a cross from Antonio Valencia after releasing the Ecuadorian down the right.

The champions doubled their lead early in the second half when Carrick intercepted a loose square ball from Rangers midfielder Joey Barton.

Advance

England international Carrick was allowed to advance by the Londoners' retreating defence and then beat Radek Cerny at the goalkeeper's near post with a shot from the edge of the box for what was his first Premier League goal in nearly two years.

Meanwhile Tottenham moved up into third place, leapfrogging Chelsea to become London's top club, with a 1-0 win at home to strugglers Sunderland.

Russia striker Roman Pavlyuchenko scored the only goal of the game at White Hart Lane just after the hour mark.

A stray ball from Sunderland's Wes Brown found its way to Rafael van der Vaart, whose clever reverse pass allowed Pavlyuchenko to fire home the winner.

Liverpool went above Newcastle and into sixth spot with a 2-0 win away to Aston Villa.

Both their goals came from corners, with Craig Bellamy forcing the ball home from close range in the 11th minute.

And four minutes later, the unmarked Martin Skrtel rose highest to head in past American keeper Brad Guzan before Liverpool striker Luis Suarez was twice denied by the woodwork.

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ROME: Juventus returned to the top of Serie A following a 2-0 victory at home to Novara yesterday, while Inter Milan's revival continued as they won 1-0 at Cesena to climb to fifth place.

Juve's win enabled them to leapfrog AC Milan, who had taken over at the top by beating Siena 2-0 on Saturday.

Udinese host Juventus in an appetising final fixture of 2011 on Wednesday, when the matches cancelled on the season's opening weekend due to a player strike will finally take place.

Juve laboured to impose themselves against their Piedmont rivals Novara, promoted from Serie B at the end of last season after a 55-year absence from the top flight.

Novara defended valiantly but were always chasing the game after Simone Pepe converted a low cross in the fourth minute to claim his fifth goal of the season.

Safe

Fabio Quagliarella, preferred in attack to Alessandro Matri, made the game safe with Juve's second goal in the 75th minute.

"We're good at creating chances, but less good at taking them," reflected Juve coach Conte. "Playing like that means we take risks with the coronaries of the man on the bench!"

Defending champions Milan had enjoyed a straightforward outing against Siena, prevailing through goals from Antonio Nocerino and a contentious Zlatan Ibrahimovic penalty - his 10th goal of the season.

Inter may be outside the title picture, but they appear to have put their early-season miseries behind them following their third straight victory.

A solitary headed goal from Andrea Ranocchia was enough to take the 2010 champions into the European places, but they are still 10 points off Juve's pace.

"I've never seen my team misplace as many passes as they did today," Inter coach Claudio Ranieri said.

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CHON BURI, Thailand: Former world number one Lee Westwood surged to a seven-shot victory at the Thailand Golf Championship on the back of the "best golf" of his stellar career yesterday.

The Briton capped off another sparkling performance with his third win in Asia this season and is now set to move up one place to second in the rankings behind English compatriot Luke Donald.

Westwood maintained the chunky lead he held from day one and put paid to South African Charl Schwartzel's brief resurgence, carding a final day three-under-par 69 to finish 22-under on a notoriously tricky course.

As US Masters champion Schwartzel faded to a level-par 72 to finish second, Westwood extended his four-stroke lead to seven to win with ease at the Asian Tour's $1-million season-ending inaugural tournament and notch his 37th career title.

Erratic

Aside from his erratic 73 on the third day, the former world number one was in superb form, flirting with golf's exclusive 59 club with a 60 on day one followed by 64 to match the Asian Tour's lowest-ever 36-hole total.

"I've amazed myself really," Westwood said after sinking his final putt on the 18th. "It's been staggering, it all came together well. It's probably the best I've ever played."

The win follows victories in Indonesia, the Ballantine's Championship in South Korea and the Nedbank Golf Challenge in South Africa.

He has now won titles in six Asian countries - Thailand, Japan, Indonesia, Macau, Malaysia and South Korea.

Schwartzel's four bogeys meant he was never in contention and his first blunder at the eighth gave Westwood the chance to stretch his lead with some polished putting on the back nine.

With his four wins this year, the 38-year-old said he felt in better form than he did when he topped the world rankings but his failure to win a major would make it difficult to answer critics.

"I'm in a tricky position because I've been so successful but not won a major. Anytime I've gone a year without a major, people are always going to say it's been a disappointing year for Lee Westwood," he said.

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MELBOURNE: England's Ian Poulter finished the season by donning the gold Australian Masters winner's jacket yesterday after a resilient final round of four-under 67 at the windswept Victoria Golf Club in Melbourne.

"To win this is the second highlight in what has been a tough year for me," Poulter said. "To do this in a Ryder Cup year and move inside the top 20 on the world rankings means a heck of a lot."

Poulter, 37, who also won the world matchplay in Spain this year, finished with a 72-hole total of 269 - 15 under par - and pocketed a cheque for $179,500.

He finished three clear of Australian Marcus Fraser (12-under 272) and four ahead of another home player, 2006 US Open winner Geoff Ogilvy (11-under 273).

World number one Luke Donald had looked dangerous on the front nine when he moved to eight under for the tournament, but faltered on the way home for a 72 and a four-under total of 280.

Poulter began the day two behind overnight leader Ogilvy and said it was an advantage being paired with the leader.

The Englishman, regarded as one of the best exponents of matchplay golf, immediately put pressure on his opponent with an eagle at the short 233-metre par-four opening hole.

He rolled in a five-metre putt after hitting a five wood off the tee while the Australian went with a three-iron as winds gusted up to 50 kilometres per hour (31 mph).

"That was absolutely crucial," Poulter said. "That gave me a great opportunity - all tied with 17 to play, so that was a nice little boost.

"I love being in contention - if you are down the field, there's no excitement, no adrenalin, no interest."

"The conditions were demanding, he said.

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OSAMA Khalfan dominated the show in the Bapco Open Bowling Championship at the Awali Club premises.

The two-day tournament, sponsored by Bahrain Special Technical Services, saw staff members from Bapco, along with representatives from Chevron Bahrain, Banagas, Tatweer Petroleum and GPIC taking part.

Each bowler played three games in different competition.

In the main contest, Khalfan from the Drilling Unit team emerged overall winner. The Bahrain national team member managed the high series of 589 to win first place. He was followed by Ahmed Faqihi (586) of Tatweer team in second place.

The high series with handicap contest was won by Vincent Espina (672) of Engineering Unit, finishing ahead of Ahmed Janahi (664) of Production Unit team. Talal Yosuef (232) of Production Unit team won the high-game competition and edging Abdulla Saleh (212) of Engineering Unit team who came second.

Victorious

In the high game with handicap, Marketing unit's Abdulreda Haqiqi came on top with 249, followed by Yasine Al Ansari (234) of Tatweer team in second position.

Mohammed Al Murbati of Production Unit team managed 11 shots, the highest among participants, while Khalid Al Rifaie of Drilling Unit could score a total of 10 shots.

The highest number of consecutive shots winners were Mohammed Hashim of Drilling Unit and Waleed Othman of Information Technology, both capitalising from two straight attempts. Abdulla Al Murbati of Drilling Unit had the highest number of finishing shots with 18 attempts. Abdulhameed Muraghi (14) was second overall.

The most shots for nine pins competition was won by Tatweer's Mohammed Ali and Engineering's Ebrahim Taher (10 each).

The awarding ceremony will take place later this week on the final day of the Bowling Inter-departmental League.

The league is due to conclude with five matches on the cards as Drilling team play Engineering, Project take on Marketing, Tatweer face Information Technology, Production encounter Security while Refinement play Retired.

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NASSER Al Thahabi raced to victory in the Bahrain Road Runners (BRR) Cross Island Race held under the umbrella of the Bahrain Athletics Association.

A total of 180 athletes took part in this annual event, which is the toughest and most challenging race in the BRR calendar with the race spread over 17 kms.

The event started from Al Dour Desalination Plant, south of Durrat Al Bahrain highway, and concluded near the Bahrain Sailing Club in Zallaq.

Al Thahabi emerged overall winner among men in 55 minutes and 47 seconds.

Abdullatif Ait Hussein (57:12) was second, followed by Maali Tawer (59:05) and Hazim Mohammed (1:01:56) in third and fourth places, respectively.

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BAHRAIN'S Aman Mokanon narrowly missed a podium spot yesterday in the men's individual foil fencing event in the 12th Arab Games being held in Doha.

The 21-year-old Bahraini lost his quarter-final match 6-15 to Lebanon's Zain Shaito at the Aspire Zone's dome.

Mokanon, the only Bahraini representative in action yesterday, could do little to match his 22-year-old Lebanese opponent, who cruised ahead after leading 9-4 at half-time.

Earlier yesterday, Mokanon came third in Group 'C' and qualified for the last-16 round along with group winner Karim Kamoun and Tarek Fouad of Egypt.

Mokanon, coached by Ahmed Al Derazi, won two of his four matches in the group against Fahad Abu Assaf (5-3) and Naser Al Waleed (5-3).

The Bahraini then moved into the last-16 round where he defeated Jordan's Ahmed Yousef 15-8.

Proved

Mokanon proved the stronger fencer in both halves, going ahead 11-7 in the first before securing a seven-point win.

Meanwhile, the kingdom's representatives return to action today, the 10th day of the Games, in five different disciplines.

Six Bahraini athletes are in the fray led by Basma Abdoh who will be competing in the women's discus throw final at 5pm.

It will be followed by the women's 5,000m final at 6.10pm when Tejitu Chalchissa and Shitaye Habtegebrel will be in action.

In the women's 800m final, Ganzeb Shumi will in action followed by Alemu Bekele and Belal Mansour in the men's 1,500m first round heats.

The Bahrain national karate team will begin their campaign at 9am onwards with four fighters - Bassam Eid, Khalid Ali, Hamad Mohammed and Sara Ebrahim.

In billiards, Bahrain take on Libya in the first round robin match at Qatar Billiards and Snooker Federation from 12pm noon. They then face off with hosts Qatar at 6pm. Bahrain's third and last game is scheduled for tomorrow against Kuwait.

Bahrain is being represented by three of its best cueists - Hesham Al Saqr, Mohammed Al Shaikh and Habib Subah.

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MOHAMMED Abdula'al and Mert Ekici reached the under-16 boy singles final in the Ninth Zain Junior Open Tennis Championship 2011, being held at the Bahrain Tennis Club courts in Juffair.

In his semi-final clash against third seed Ali Al Asfoor, Mohammed lived up to many expectations, winning the match 6-2, 7-5 and advancing into the title decider.

Abdula'al, son of former national team captain and present coach Essam, will take on Ekici today at 4pm.

Ekici progressed into the final after a surprising 6-2, 6-1 victory over second seed Abdulaziz Janahi.

The Turkish junior put on one of his best shows in the tournament, defeating the Bahrain national team player with ease to set up the final show down.

Four more matches took place yesterday, all of which were in the under-18 boys singles quarter-finals.

Top seed Yousif Qaed, who received a bye in the first round, kick-started his campaign with a comfortable 6-0, 6-2 win over Ahmed Dhaif and breezed into this age category's last four.

In his semi-final tie, scheduled for today, Yousef will be taking on Abdulrahman Janahi who registered a 3-6, 7-5, 10-6 come-from-behind win over Ahmed Abdulnabi in the day's most exciting game.

Al Mosawi and Jaffer will face off in the semi-finals today at 4pm. The winners of these semi-final matches will clash in the final on Wednesday.

More than 100 juniors are taking part in this year's tournament, being organised for the ninth successive time.

Sponsored by Bahrain's telecommunications company Zain, this year's tournament features a total of seven different age categories.

Meanwhile, Abdulhussain Nashaba emerged winner in the veterans tennis festival, organised by the club on the sidelines of Bahrain's National Day celebrations and His Majesty's accession to the throne.

Khairi Ghazawi came second, followed by Matar Yousef in third place and Khalid Buali fourth.

The event was followed by an awarding ceremony which was attended by His Majesty King Hamad's youth and sports advisor Saleh Bin Hindi, who honoured the winners.

On this occasion, club president Khamis Al Muqla presented commemorative mementos to Bin Hindi and Gulf Marcom managing director Thamer Al Muqla in appreciation to their support to the club's programmes.